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Animal control searches for dog with 6-foot pole around neck

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Animal control officers were back on a dead-end road west of the airport searching for a dog that has been on the run for six days with a pole that they had previously used to try and catch it still around its neck.

Chris Hammersley, who works nearby, said the dog has been living in the woods in a southwest Charlotte neighborhood.

“They brought it over to their truck and tried lifting it into the truck, and the dog started kicking and got away, so they dropped it and it ran off,” Hammersley said.

Hammersley said the dog has wandered up to a nearby house several times with the pole attached, but is too skittish for animal control officers to approach.

“They've been out there most days,” Hammersley said. “They've seen her. They've shot the dog twice with tranquilizer darts.”

Both times, the tranquilizer didn't take effect until the dog ran back into the woods.

Animal control had teams of three to five officers looking for the dog for 20 hours a day, but Hammersley worries it's just a matter of time before something bad happens.

“She gets caught somewhere, she could like strangle herself,” Hammersley said. “I'm sure she's having trouble getting food with that six-foot pole around its neck. Like, the dog's going to die and we're going to find it with (the) animal control restraint device on her.”

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